H+ Weekly - Issue #35
ISSUE #35
UK scientists got a green light for editing human embryos, eagles hunting for drones, looking into AI's mind, droneboarding, watching suicide in a VR game, robots and more!
More than a human
Cyborgs Evolving in the US Military
The U.S. military is working to develop a new chip technology that, when implanted, will connect human brains to computers – making cyborgs.
New Study Shows Graphene Interacts Safely With Neurons In The Brain
Scientists have found that graphene electrodes in the brain can conduct impulses, and they have no side effects on neurons.
Artificial Intelligence
Go, Marvin Minsky, and the Chasm that AI Hasn’t Yet Crossed
An expert in AI separates fact from hype in the wake of DeepMind’s victory over humans in the most challenging game of all.
Prof. Nick Bostrom - Artificial Intelligence Has The Potential To Shape The Fate of Humanity
It's predicted that sometime in the next 25 years, artificial intelligence machines will match - and in some ways - surpass human intelligence. The potential ripple effects of that are staggering and Nick Bostrom explains them in this interview.
Scientists build a neural network using plastic memristors
The advancements in AI research are not bound only to software. A collaborative of Russian and Italian scientists has created a neural network based on polymeric memristors, devices that can potentially be used to build fundamentally new computers.
Will Machines Eliminate Us?
Yoshua Bengio talks about recent advancements in AI and about the fears regarding thinking machines. We also points out where we are with our current AI systems and what is there still to be done.
Meet Viv: the AI that wants to read your mind and run your life
The team behind Siri have a new idea: a voice-controlled personal assistant – linked to all your devices – that will take care of your every need
AI Safety - Computerphile
Safety in AI is important, but more important is to work it out before working out the AI itself. Rob Miles on AI safety.
Gaze Inside The Mind Of Artificial Intelligence With This Neural Network Visualizer
Something for those of you who wanted to look inside the AI's mind and visually check how it works in real time.
Robotics
Droneboarding
Take kiteboarding, but replace the kite with a drone. Have we seen the birth of a new sport with drones?
Trained Police Eagles Attack Drones On Command
Looks like eagles might have a new prey - the rogue drones.
Cloud-Brained Humanoid Robots Are Right around the Corner
A new generation of humanoid robots are coming in the 2020s, says innovation and industry expert Alec Ross. They will care for our aging populations and revolutionize manufacturing.
UK driverless car projects get government green light
More than 40 miles of roads in Coventry will be equipped with technologies to aid autonomous vehicles, the UK government has announced.
Robot Adjusts Stare, Makes Itself Less Creepy
Researchers have found how to make socially assistive robots less creepy by making the robot look away more natural.
360 Video of Greased Lightning GL-10 in flight
Check out a 360 degree video of the battery powered, 10-propeller GL-10 Greased Lightning in flight.
Biotechnology
For the First Time, Scientists Win Approval to Edit Human Embryo Genomes
U.K. regulators grant permission to use CRISPR-Cas9 technology in embryos for early-development research
Craig Venter: We Are Not Ready to Edit Human Embryos Yet
"Unless we have sufficient knowledge and wisdom we should not proceed", says Craig Venter in his article about bioethics of gene engineering.
Sensors Slip into the Brain, Then Dissolve When the Job Is Done
Researchers from University of Illinois created a brain chip, that dissolves then the job is done. So far the device was tested on rats, but tests on pigs are being planned, so human tests are a matter of time.
World's first 'robot run' farm to open in Japan
A Japanese firm said it will open the world's first fully automated farm with robots handling almost every step of the process, from watering seedlings to harvesting crops.
This Biotech Startup Promises Lab-Grown Pork Within Five Years
The future of lab-grown meat is coming. Or at least it feels that way, based on burgeoning interest in the biotech community. One by one, companies are staking out different animal tissues to grow in vitro for human consumption. First there was beef. Then there was chicken. Now there’s pork.
CRISPR used to repair blindness-causing genetic defect in patient-derived stem cells
Columbia University Medical Center and University of Iowa scientists have used a gene-editing technology CRISPR, to repair a genetic mutation responsible for retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition that causes the retina to degrade and leads to blindness in at least 1.5 million cases worldwide.
Virtual Worlds
I watched someone commit suicide in VR and it freaked me out
Sean Buckley saw how someone commit suicide in a VR game and decided to share his thoughts and feelings of this experience.
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